(Seventy-Five) Crimes and Punishment
by TheGirlwithaPin
Summary: Quater Quells always have some type of twist, but none of them expected to be cheated of never being in an arena again. Catching Fire AU. Brutus volunteers but Enobaria doesn't, instead, another has to face the arena again.


**A/N: New story that I thought of during the writing of the Final Unit. I've always been fascinated with District Two and the Career districts, so I kind of... came up with this. Letting y'all know that this is in no way in any relation to the universe of Final Unit. Will be updating this alternately with other stories so this will be an wip for a while.** Please review!

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><p>(seventy-five) crimes and punishment<p>

1. Reaped

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><p>When she was reaped, he knew... just <em>knew<em> that Snow did this to crush him. He was a victor from District Two, won by stabbing Onyx in the heart after a long battle. He was in that arena for three weeks, the longest game on record. However, he wasn't one of those in the record books. He wasn't special, he didn't do anything wrong, he just despaired. He knew that winning wasn't an honor for his district, he would never leave the games until he died. The crippling depression took him over, and also the loneliness.

And the grief. The pain as the arena played over and over again in his mind almost drove him insane. After his victor tour and the media circus of the Capitol died down on their unremarkable Victor of the 66th Hunger Games, he saved her in the dead of winter. Or at least took her in when she was attacked by that mutt wolf near the perimeter of District Two, managing to hobble and crawl to his porch. He helped heal her, saved her life essentially. He loved her so much that he was afraid. Zarra Fang fell for him, and that's why she was reaped for the 68th. She trained constantly before that with Lyme and Brutus and himself of course. Because Brutus and Enobaria _knew_. She wasn't a Career. She wasn't arrogant or proud to be sentenced to death, or to kill another human being. She was an outcast because of her scars. The wolf's claws on her right arm and side caused her to be an imperfection to the striving for perfect everything of District 2. Meaning that no one volunteered when her name was called and his heart broke in two. A first for District Two.

Jason Ressen watched as the love of his life was paraded in silvery armor that made her look like a warrior. At eighteen, she had odds. Good odds.

The Capitol liked her scars, however she played the mysterious card in her interview with Ceasar Flickerman. She wasn't like that blonde chick from District One beautiful, but she was unique in how her cream skin contrasted to her long jet black waves and dark blue eyes. He was glad that Finnick came before him, sparing Snow from giving away his freedom in that way, but he was still sick and mostly... furious at the Capitol. He rather had been dead in that arena before he met her.

She had a target painted on her back when she scored an eleven in training. It got him and Lyme to get a hell of a lot of Capitolites shoving money their way. It didn't ease him when the tributes were launched into the arena, basically a huge, dense forest on one half, and a lake by the cornucopia and a field. What bothered him most though, was the mountains. And what they wore too. The outfit was some sturdy combats boots, jeans and a long sleeved thermal shirt with a heat insulatating coat. He watched how the tributes were placed. it was weird how Zarra was directly opposite from Antonius, the hulking District tribute that used to be Zarra's friend. How the twelve year old named Lark was next to Nia from Eleven. Or maybe, how John from District Six was right next to Jade from One, angling himself to run towards _her_. John had a genetic disorder, his hair stark white and eyes crimson, errily similar to the wolf mutt that attacked Zarra that night. 30 seconds before the games start, Hannah from District Seven drops her token, a wooden ball no less, and blows herself sky high, startling every single tribute. Zarra eyes the weapon she's looking for, and a backpack on the way.

When the gong starts, Zarra sprints to the Cornucopia, easily grabbing the backpack on her way and shifting it over to her shoulder. Simultaneously, Antonius , Shell and Sea run as Topaz gets looks back to see John, the district Six tribute behead Jade with a token that somehow changed into a staff with a sharp blade at each end. Cashmere had sworn up a storm as soon as that happened, but he never strayed my eyes off the screen. Finally to the Cornucopia, she grabs the only bow in the arena, and a quiver with 24 arrows in it, and also another larger backpack and a pack of knives. Shell tries to throw a knife at her but it only grazes her arm, and Zarra manages to flee to the forest, not stoping until the cannons start to signa the end of the bloodbath.

Nine died that first day. Early in the second, John meets her and they ally themselves, runnign from the Careers and finding the two girls from Districts Eleven and Twelve. over the next few days, not much is exicting enough for the Capitol, except when Lark and Nia are killed when Topaz hunts them down, and Zarra kills him quickly.

But she does something that causes Haymitch to move his minuscule funds to Jason's somewhat midsided fund of money. She comforts Lark as she dies. The Capitol doesn't censor it for some reason, but the whole of Panem watches in awe as Zarra Fang an anomally from District Two, comforts a child, _just_ a child from District Twelve, the laughingstock of the nation, as she tells her about the sky and how she'll be remembered in the stars and that you'll be in a better place.

When the cannon sounds, John lets her cry on his shoulder, while he says that fuck the Capitol, for she should be able to show some kind of weakness.

It's no wonder when he dies the next day, Zarra takes his token/weapon and hunts the rest of the Tributes down.

In the clearing , The tributes are hunted by rabid wolves, and a gigantic wolf that is the exact copy of the one that attacked Zarra all those years ago, kills everyone except for the remains of the Careers and Zarra.

Zarra sneaks upon them when they're unaware. She beheads Shell and stabs Sea immediately before then can call for help, and District Two knows that it'll have a Victor this year. No one likes them if they kill their district partner, no matter how arrogant and deserving to die they are.

It's a brutal fight, for they're versing both the mutts and themselves, and Zarra kills it and then, after Antonius berades her on being the favorite, taunting her with telling her that her winning will get her nowhere, she says something back as she stabs him with John's staff, her trademark weapon.

_Who wins anyways?_

When the trumpets sound her victory, she refuses to leave, sinking to her knees and sobbing in despair. They have him jump off of the ladder and into the arena, where he kneels to her level and in result has her morphing John's token back to it's rod form, and clutching his shoulders as they leave the hell of her dreams.

He hates the Capitol for what they've done to him, and mostly to her. Snow failed to crush him when she won then, but now... they couldn't even be in love like those star cross lovers of last year. They mentored together Cato and Clove. Zarra told Clove to never bluff about your allies killing other tributes allies, and to not go slow with killing. When she gloated about Rue dying at the feast, about to mutilate Katniss, Zarra had her hand on a button to move her funds to Haymitch. When she died, Zarra calmly looked up to the ceiling, her eyes closed as she remembered her own arena as Antonius gloated about John's death.

_I told her not to do that. Now, that's gonna mean that Haymitch can rest in peace._

Zarra took Haymitch aside when they stopped in District Two, talking silently about the rebellion and how it would work. Sure, they both kept up their training even when they were crowned as Victors. However, when he sat with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, Brutus and Enobaria and all the victors waiting for Snow to annouce the twist for the Quarter Quell, Jason felt dread.

Brutus's kid was of reaping age this year, and he was afraid of when that would happen to them. Zarra and him were careful, and they loved each other. Yet still... it terrified every Victor with any family realatives within reaping age or children at all.

But this twist was worse than what he could have imagined. Not reducing the reaping age, or only twelve year olds, or maybe old people. Oh, this was much worse, for Snow knew... just knew of the impeding rebellion and of how Katniss failed, or Finnick was a part of it, or how District Two defied the odds and actually had an outcast win and a somewhat happy life for an unremarkable victor.

_On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that not even the strongest rebels cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female victors shall be reaped from the existing pool of victors._

Zarra put her head in her hands in horror, and Jason tried to calm her down. His resolve failed because he would make them pay. They can't just cheat us from what the Victors are promised.

But Snow did. He's forcing us to kill each other. But for some reason, it wouldn't have been possible if Katniss didn't win. They try to not think about it that much.

In the months before the reaping, the Victors train each other. Zarra focuses on the dual balded staff that she's most famous for. She secretly donates through Quin from District Six a sum of her money to Scotty, John's brother in DIstrict Six. Jason spends as much time with her as he can, they visit the crystal caves in the nut and make love so many times that he can't count.

He's bitter that morning when they're lined up, corralled by ropes. She's wearing a long sleeved blue dress that matches the hue of her eyes, and he smilesat her reassuringly when Mannus picks one slip out of eleven for the female victors.

_Zarra Fang!_

Her fists clench and he stiffens and bites his lip from cursing every foul word he knows because damn it because no one is volunteering as she steps out and stands proudly-unblinkingly. Her eyes angry and full of rage that the Capitol- no - the nation knows just how outraged she is to be sentenced to death again. There's something that she knows that Jason doesn't, or at least, it's in the back of her mind.

Zarra thinks she's pregnant. And that's unheard of because she isn't married.

When Brutus volunteers for Augustus who won two years ago, Zarra gulps because she just knows that being sick for the past three days in the morning and then feeling better is just one side effect.

She's probably not going to make it out. It's all for Katniss to make it out. Zarra made a promise to Plutarch, but now she isn't so sure that she could keep to that when she's pregnant. When her child-no- Jason's and her child's life is at stake.

Jason and Lyme are mentoring this year. When she walks into the Justic Building, she puts her head in her hands when her father, mother, brothers and sister walk in. Zarra looks nothing alike any of them. Her mother's chocolate locks and hazel eyes are replicated in her younger sister. Her father's dirty blonde hair is present in both of her brothers. Zarra's the odd one with her grandfather's jet black hair. Thinking of this, she wonders for a second just what her unborn child could look like, but she shakes that thought off. She wants to warn her family carefully about the rebellion. She addresses them cautiously.

_Mom... I'm not making it back. I love all of you but, it's not possible._

Her mother tries to pursuade her otherwise.

_Sweetie... We love you and-_

She interrupts to try and make her point clear.

_just be careful- be prepared if anything happens- I have a feeling that these Games are going to change some things... Remember me, okay?_

They nod, and her father has a ghost of a smile on his face as Zarra hugs each of her family members.

The camera's don't catch her smiling, instead, it's like she's going to a funeral, but it's her funeral. Her eyes are on fire with anger. And Panem knows in that moment, that it's not all about theier star crossed lovers.

The Capitol cheated their beloved Victors, but they won't get away with it.


End file.
